A wire harness protector of this type is closed by capping a lid after a wire harness is inserted into a protector main body having a trench shape. Furthermore, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. H6-66233, after a wire harness W/H is inserted into a protector main body 100, a tape 101 is wound around an outer peripheral surface of the protector main body 100 so that the wire harness W/H is retained without coming off from an upper opening 100a of the protector main body 100, as shown in FIGS. 14(A) and (B). In doing so, two side walls of the protector main body 100 are cut to include thin walls 100b and 100c having flexibility. The tape 101 is wound around the thin walls 100b and 100c so that the thin walls 100b and 100c are closely attached to the upper surface of the wire harness W/H, thereby the wire harness is retained firmly.
The wire harness W/H is linearly inserted through the protector shown in FIG. 14, whereas a wire harness is branched into a branch wire W/H-B from a trunk wire W/H-A as shown in FIGS. 15(A) and (B). In this case, a main body 121 of a protector 120 is formed into a T-shape and is integrally formed into a shape in which a branch wire insertion portion 121b is branched off from a trunk wire insertion portion 121a. In addition, a lid 122 to cover the main body 121 is integrally provided with a thin-wall hinge 123 therebetween such that the lid 122 and the main body 121 are substantially symmetrical.
In the protector 120 shown in FIG. 15, after a wire harness is inserted into the main body 121, the lid 122 is rotated to close an upper opening of the main body 121, and locking tabs 122r in the lid 122 are engaged with locking frames 121r in the main body 121 for lock connection.